Christmas Time

Thursday, May 23, 2013

In my growing attempt to live longer (at least long enough to pay for my daughters college) I have taken on the mission to eat healthier and get more exercise. Nothing really exciting but, eating less and eating better. The exercise consists of trying to get to 10,000 steps a day or at least 2.5 to 3 miles a day. I have found that keep track of steps, calories and miles work is not only an incentive but because I'm so competitive it drives me to make my goals.

I first started off with an IPhone app called My Fitness Pal. Its free but it allows you to track your daily caloric intake. In diet world, every calorie counts. It allows you to customize your meals one ingredient at a time. It also has meals already, so if you have fast food it will allow to choose The Big Mac and fries automatically so you dont have to manually search for the calories. It does it for you.

From there I bought an app called Pedometer. Great name right! I tried the free version and I liked the interface enough to purchase the 2.99 upgrade. This will show Steps, Distance, Cals and time. Also Speed and average speed of your walk. I found this app to be great except I had to manually turn it one everyday. This is not an issue but it didnt count your total daily steps.

The newest addition to my tech enhanced life is the Nike Fuel. What I love about this device is that you put around your wrist and you forget it the rest of the day. It counts your steps and calories burned throughout the day. I put this thing on every morning and take it off and charge before bed and repeat. The battery life is good, but and you can leave attached for 1-3 days depending on how much you press the Fuel button. You download the Nike Fuel app from the Itunes App store and sync it your Bluetooth. From there it will sync your progress throughout the day and let you know when you have reached your daily goal. It comes in there different sizes and three different colors. The drawback is that this Nike Fuel band is expensive. Ranging from $150-200.

So here are there great tools to help you get in some steps and set some goals. Exercise is the key. You don't have to get crazy with it, start with walking. For me the incentive of the Nike Fuelband is that it costs so much, I better use it. But you have less expensive and free apps that can help you with your goals. In the long run its up to you but I have found that these additions to my daily life along with better eating are helping me continue my journey!!